Snap-over engine clutch for powered conveyors



1964 M. MAYRATH 3,160,375

SNAP-OVER ENGINE CLUTCH FOR POWERED CONVEYORS Filed July 2, 1962 WW 7 WW to INVENTOR A TTORNE Filed s a 2, E62, Ser. No. 296,796 a cuties. (Cl. 243-16) This invention pertains to powered conveyors or like implements which are clutched into and out of driving condition by motion of the drive engine or motor bodily with respect to a driven pulley connected by a belt to the prime mover driving pulley. Clutches of this type are commonly used on portable wheeled conveyors of the farm type, because they are simple, reliable and econornical, and because they also compensate for normal stretching of the drive belt due to wear or ageing.

Prior known clutching arrangements of this general type have usually been combined with the motor or engine mounting, for obvious reasons. They usually incorporate a handle, lever or the like for adjustment of the engine position toward and away from the next succeeding driven pulley, and some form of clamp such as a locking screw to hold the engine mount in the tight-belt position. These arrangements have numerous disadvantages; they usually require the use of both hands for the clutching and clamping operation, and since the clamp is often of a screw type engaging a slide mount rod or bar, the necessity for operating the screw at each clutching operation results in early wear of the engaging parts, with consequent difficulty in achieving a dependable clamping action as the equipment continues in use. The manipulation of the control lever and the locking device has involved exposure of the operators hands or arms to the rotating engine parts and the belt, with danger of injury to him.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a motor or engine mount for powered belt-drive conveyors or the like, which has a built-in clutch arrangement having numerous advantages. Among these advantages are (a) a single manipulation of one handle or lever both pulls the mounted engine into position to tighten the belt, and locks the same in that position by a simple but rugged over-center toggle action, so that only one hand is required for this action; ([2) the single operating lever is disposed so that it can be manipulated without requiring exposure of the operator to the rotating or moving parts of the drive; a simple provision is made for periodic take-up or adjustment to compensate for progressive stretching of the belt; (d) the operating lever is arranged so that it is approximately horizontal when the machine is in use, keeping it out of the way of those walking beneath the conveyor; and (e) the arrangement is such that practically any type, size or style of engine or motor base can be accommodated, because the mounting studs are fully adjustable to agree with both the lengthwise and sidewise spacing of the engine base mounting holes.

The manner of construction of the invention to achieve the above aims will best be understood from the following detailed specification of a preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of example, and taken in connection with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a small-scale side elevational View of a typical conveyor of the auger type employing the invention, given merely for clarification of the application of the invention to a typical machine.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, from the other side of FIG. 1, showing the details of the invention, with the clutch in its de-clutched position.

FIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 2 but omitting certain parts, and showing the position of the parts when the clutch is engaged.

United States Patent 0 3,160,375 Patented Dec. 8, 1964 FPCe pensation for stretching of the belt when such adjustment I becomes HBCQSSEI'Y.

FEG. l of the drawings shows a complete portable conve 'or of the au er tv e em in the new motor mount and clutch, but it will be understood that the invention can also readily be employed with other kinds of conveyors, and indeed with machines generally. Numeral 1t) designates the auger tube in FIG. 1, supported on a wheeled framework 12 and secured at the desired elevation angle by suitable means such as a chain'hoist (not shown).

The auger drive pulleyis connected by a belt 14 (running I over suitable idler pulleys) to the drive or power output pulley of the engine 16, which is supported by the motor mount of the invention. ally supported upona sliding sleeve movable up and down on a substantially vertical post or mast such as 18, but here also the invention is not limited to use with conveyors of that specific type.

Turning now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, which shows the invention itself as viewed from the rear side of the conveyor illustrated in FIG. 1, the novel clutching engine mount is shown as carried by a post 29 secured to the sleeve 22 which would normally surround and slide along the mast 18 of FIG. 1, the same sleeve supporting the auger tube 10 intermediate its ends as upon a stub axle or bearing indicated at 24. The engine mount comprises a pair of adjustably spaced parallel guide and support rods or bars 26 and 28, the inside one of these (26) being Welded at 39 to the post 2%. The other rod 28 is welded to a collar 32 slidable along the post 20. Each support and guide rod carries a pair of slidable stud collars, the

collars on the rod 26 being designated 34 and 36, while those on rod 28 are designated 38 and 40. While all of these are independently slidable on their respective rods so as to accommodate any spacing of the mounting holes of the engine motor, once they have been secured to the engine base by their threaded studs, all of these collars will necessarily thereafter move as a unit. Hence it is necessary, in order to move the engine bodily along the slide rods, to apply force to only one of the collars. It may be noted here that since rod 28 is slidable sideways along post 29 (by virtue of the sliding collar 32), the engine-base hole spacing in both fore-and-aft and sideways directions can be accommodated.

Collar 34 has a depending lug 42 to which is pivotally connected one end of a connector strap or link 44, which curves downwardly from lug 42 and is also bent at point 45. Beyond that point, the end of link 44 is pivotally connected at 48 to an intermediate point of the operating lever handle 50. The upper end ot lever 50 in FIG. 2 is pivoted at 52 to an anchor clamp 54 positioned on rod 26 at a point selected in accordance with the belt length, and secured in its adjusted position by a clamp screw 58 (see FIG. 4 for this numeral).

The shape of link 44 allows it to swing upward from its FIG. 2 position when lever 59 is rotated counter-clockwise, to a degree such that its pivot connection at 48 passes above an imaginary line drawn between the center of pivot 52 and the axis of the connection to lug 42 of collar 34 and provides for clearance between the link 44 and the post 20 and the part of the engine base. This motion of link 44, due to its cranked shape, does not cause it to strike either the support port 20 or any part of the engine base. Instead, the over-center motion is stopped when the upper edge of the link 44 encounters the underside of clamp 54. In this position, link 44 has pulled the engine a maximum distance to the right, causing the belt to tighten about the pulleys so that the drive power is transmitted to the conveyor.

The over-center position is illustrated in FIG. 3, and I Often, the augertube is. pivot 3 as stated this position corresponds to the belt-tight or clutched condition, the driven pulley being to the left in both FIGS. 2 and 3. Since, when the position of clamp 54 has been properly adjusted, the tension in the tightened belt tends to urge the engine mount to the left and therefore would tend to raise lever 50' still higher, the

3) horizontal, or approximately so, as shown, and it can.

therefore be grasped by the operator without'any danger from the belt or other parts, and yet is out of the way of anyone working'or passing beneath-the engine mount;

As already indicated, the clutching and de-clutching operation requires the use of one hand only, and since belts stretch relatively slowly with time or usage, the arrangement maintains its correct adjustment for considerable periods. When circumstances require, compensation for belt length is readily accomplished by moving clamp 54 to a new position. As detailed in FIG. 4, the clamp is in the form of an open-ended box, with its central axis vertical, two opposite walls being punched to receive the guide rod 26. The box is made large enough to receive a piece of heavy-gauge plate 56, preferably Welded in place as shown; the aggregate wall thickness thus provided makes it feasible to tap a hole through that material, to receive the clamp bolt 58.

The invention has been describedabove in considerable detail, so that those skilled in the art can practicethe same without difliculty; but it is to be understood that various modifications of the construction shown are possible, and it is not intended to exclude from the invention .any such modifications as fall within the scopeof the motor mounting elements slidable on each guide rod in a I therewith, a clamp mounted on one of said guide rods,

means for fixing said clamp in adjusted positions along said one guide rod independently of said motor mounting elements, a control lever pivotallyv connected at one end to said clamp, and a connecting link'extending between, and pivotally connected to, an intermediate point on said control lever and one of said motor mounting elements mounted on said one guide rod, said connecting link having means for providing clearance so that its pivotal connection to said control lever can move over-center relative to the pivotal connection of said'lever to said clamp between a belt-loosening position and a belt-tightening position, said connecting link having a portion aligned with a portion of said clamp whereby said connecting link is engageable with said clamp to limit movementof saidcontrol lever at said belt-tightening position. 2'. A motor mount in accordance with claim 1 wherein said clamp has spaced parallel walls through which said one guide rod is slidable, and having vertical side walls parallel to said one guide rod and against one of which said one end of said control lever is pivotally connected, said link, when said lever is in belt-tightening position, engaging the bottom of said one side of said wall, and a clamping bolt threaded through the other side wall and engageable with said one guide rod to fix said clamp in adjusted positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,238,294 Scott Apr. 15, 1941 2,509,458 Smith May 30, 1950 2,551,147 Mayrath May 1, 1951 2,595,098 Poglay Apr. 29, 1952 2,623,624 Slocum Dec. 30, 1952 2,784,607 Fulper Mar. 12, 1957 2,856,785 Steele Oct. 21, 1958 

1. A SELF-LOCKING BELT DRIVE MOTOR MOUNT FOR MACHINES, COMPRISING A PAIR OF STATIONARY GUIDE RODS, A PAIR OF MOTOR MOUNTING ELEMENTS SLIDABLE ON EACH GUIDE ROD IN A DIRECTION WHICH WILL VARY THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE MOTOR PULLEY AND A DRIVEN PULLEY, SAID MOTOR MOUNTING ELEMENTS, WHEN FIXED TO A MOTOR, BEING SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVABLE THEREWITH, A CLAMP MOUNTED ON ONE OF SAID GUIDE RODS, MEANS FOR FIXING SAID CLAMP IN ADJUSTED POSITIONS ALONG SAID ONE GUIDE ROD INDEPENDENTLY OF SAID MOTOR MOUNTING ELEMENTS, A CONTROL LEVER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID CLAMP, AND A CONNECTING LINK EXTENDING BETWEEN, AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO, AN INTERMEDIATE POINT ON SAID CONTROL LEVER AND ONE OF SAID MOTOR MOUNTING ELEMENTS MOUNTED ON SAID ONE GUIDE ROD, SAID CONNECTING LINK HAVING MEANS FOR PROVIDING CLEARANCE SO THAT ITS PIVOTAL CONNECTION TO SAID CONTROL LEVER CAN MOVE OVER-CENTER RELATIVE TO THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION OF SAID LEVER TO SAID CLAMP BETWEEN A BELT-LOOSENING POSITION AND A BELT-TIGHTENING POSITION, SAID CONNECTING LINK HAVING A PORTION ALIGNED WITH A PORTION OF SAID CLAMP WHEREBY SAID CONNECTING LINK IS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID CLAMP TO LIMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID CONTROL LEVER AT SAID BELT-TIGHTENING POSITION. 